Electrical regulator



BEST AVALABLE (JUPE Sept. 7 1926.

s. P. s'HACKLEToN ELECTRICAL REGULATOR Filed August' 19, 1922 rlll Rx *MSA .wx mmm ...LJ

A TTORNEY Fatented Sept. 7, 1926.

narran STAT-asf SAMUEL P. SHACKLETON, OF WYOMING, 1

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"71V JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TG AIEERICAN TELE PHONE AND TELESE/APH COMEANY, A COEPG- RA'LAICN OF NEW YORK.

ELECTRECAL REGULATOR.

` :iwf Application led August 19, 1922.

This invention relates to arrangements :tor regulating an electrical characteristic ot a circuit, such as the intensity of current flowing therethrough. The object of the inf-vention is to provide means for' insuring a constant flow of current through each of several channels as the number of channels changes. More specilically, the object is to provide means whereby, ina circuit withV variable E. M. F.- and in which a pluralityT of relays are introducedI in accordance with the variations in the E. M. F., the current l.in the .patent to R.; D. Conway,` No. 1,438,944,- I v; granted December. ,19, 1922,f for Aregulating stantially constant and independent of the flowing through each relay shall remain subv'ariations, in the E. M. F. l

. The inventionA has Kfound l particular ap- ;1 plicationji'n conne'ction with -Jneans described fthefliow .of current in awoijk circuit, regu lationy y:being obtained by. the-'1 stepby-step operation of relaysywhich; are adaptedrto I selves supplied from the variable source ot E. F., andin 'view of the. fact that itv isf-necessary. to use` relays which are nicely .adjusted asto current yalue on which they operate,.it; is'desirable to provide additional ymeans by' which thezrelays themselves shall z be made independent `of the fluctuations inthey voltage of the source, and I accomplish this by theintroduction of a resistance element of acertain value associated with the v, relay circuits.

'The invention will be better understood by reference to the accompanying drawings in which Figure l-shows in part the regu-r lating circuitof.- the Conway patent men#A tioned above and including inaddition' certain changes comprising my invention.l Fig- 2 is a schematic circuit to illustrate the prin-v ciple underlying my invention. Reference vmay now be made to Fig. 1,`t-hel description to be given being only such as is necessary to malte more fully clear that portionA relating to my invention. Connected to a battery i2 is a voltmeter relay 3 which has a needle 4 between't-wo stationary contacts 5 and 6. Since these contacts are extremely delicate Serial No. 582,981.

and easily burned out, the nei dle 4 is counected to ground, while the contact 5 1s con- -nected to battery through a resistance 7 and the contact 6 to the same point of thebattery through resistance 8. Connected to theconi tact 5 vis also the relay'winding 10, and connected to the contact 6 is the relay 115. The relay 10 is normally operated from the battery 2 through the following circuits: battery 2,1 conductor j58, resistance 7, relay winding lO and ground. The relay 1151s also normally operated through asimilar path, including the contact G and the resist? ance S. In case Aof deflection `of the needleH f fl' infsuch'adirection as to close with .contact .5, the relay lO--will be short-circuited,,and

its armature -willaccordingly fall faway..v .j On

lthe other hand, .the needle fclcses, in contact 6, the relay 115 is short-circuited. and;

its armature falls away. The Aadvantage ot this circuit arrangement isthat morefposltive operation kof therelays lO'and 115is obtained than would be theca'se weretheycontrolled by a series connection'through:the Vcontacts or v6, and-atthe sametimegthese contacts areprotected inasmuch as j current is not interrupted but shunted through another path. The-relayy 10 controls Athec'suc- Vcessi/ve operation. of the relays infthetwoseries 1l to 17v inclusive Aand 21 Ito .27 :inclusiv'e. Each of the relays in series .2l-,to 27 inclusive is a slow-acting, rel ay designed so that it willv not operate or; lclose'itscontacts until after itscorresponding relaylinlthe series 11 to 17 inclusive. has fbeen operated.;

' The successive operation ofthegrelaysfll to 17j inclusive serves to add to the winding of thel v oltmeter. relay, the resistanceslfto 37 respectivelyby the breaking of shunt;l

paths around said resistances. These resistances have a `valuej predetermined with 'respectftofthe adjustment ofthe contactso the Avoltmeter relayj The operation; of the circuit is aslfol-L- lows The circuit normally closed through the Winding of. thev ,voltmeter relay 3 isrom ground,y battery 2,' winding of voltmeten 3, conductor 5()1 and movable cont-actsl to 57 inclusive to ground.v An increase, in then voltage of the sourcev will be indicated by adelection to the rightofthe needle ofthe voltmeter relay therebyshort-cireuiting the relay winding 10 and permitting its armatureto tall away and thusclosing.thegoL' BEST AVMLABLE CPli lowing circuit: From ground, movable contact of relay 10, conductor 62', movable con-T the voltmeter relay -may be traced fromground, battery 2, winding of voltmeter relay 3, conductor 50,- resistance 31 and movable contacts 52 to 57 inclusive to ground. 1f the addition of resistance 31 is sufficient to counter-balance the increase in V'the voltage of source 2, the needle of the. voltmeter relay will return to'neutral position and thus open :the circuit formerly closed by the operation of relay 10. Afterthe relay, 1'1 has pulled up its movablecontactsand' has' beenlocked l through" the circuit described. above; `the slow-acting relay 21,attraets its movable vcontact-63` so stoidisconnectrthe'windingsgv p 'r ments'31 'and 32, the voltmeter relay needle of relays 11"and 21 frbm the 'armature' of relay 10 and to connect instead thewindings of relays 12 vand 22 theretothrough conductors 94 and '89, movable contact' 90, conyd'uctor 91, movable contact-63"'to the movable Contact of relay 10,.'A AThis change therefore makesr relays 12 l and22Z responsive to the energi'zation of'relaylOf.

If by the,I addition of thel resistance 31, the circuit including the voltmeter relay 3 is not suflicient tol, counterbalance the 'increase in thevoltage of 'the lbattery 2, the' needle vof the voltmeter're'lay will notgr'et'urnto neu I tact 90, conductor S9, winding 'of relay 12,

conductor 94.winding of relay 22 tobattery i v T 33 is suluclent' to counter-balance the change and ground. The closing of this circuit will energize relay 12 which will""pull up its armatures and become lockedV up. over the" following circuit: From ground and bat- `tery, winding of relayv 22, conductor 94,

winding of relay 12, movable contact 95, conductors 96 and 69 to movable contact 70 of relay 115 to ground. The actuation of relay 12 by pulling up its armature 52 opens the short-circuit around resistance 32 so that the circuit of the voltmeter relay winding may now be traced from ground, battery 2, 'winding of voltmeter relay 3, conductor 50,

resistances 31, 32 and movable contacts 53 to 57 inclusive, to ground. Thus the circuit of the voltmeter relay winding now includes resistance 32 as .well as resistance 31. lf the addition of these two resistances is sullieient to counter-balance the rise in voltage of battery 2, the needle of the voltineter relay will return to neutral position and thus open the circuit formerly closed by the operation of relay 19. A

Subsequent to the actuation of relay 12, the slow-acting relay 22 pulls up its lower armature 90 so as to remove the control of relay 10 from relay 12 to relay 13 by including the winding of relay 13 by the following circuit: From movable contact of relay 10, conductor G2, 91, movable contact 90, conductor 110, movable contact 111, conductor 112,winding of relay 13, conductor 113, winding of relay 23 to battery and ground. TVinding of relay 22 by pulling up vits movable contact 114 removes the loclrin circuit for relay 11 from under theV contro of movable Contact Aof relay 115' by causing relay 11 to be locked up instead directly through contact 114 tovground. Y 1` If the increase in the voltage of source 2 has not been counter-balanced by including 5in' the volt-meterl circuit the resistance ele- 'will notreturn to' neutral position, but will remain'deflectedto the right. IAccordingly, 1'elay 110' remains deenergized, and after slowacting relay 22 has operated will' energize relays 13 and 23 over the following circuitzF rom 'ground,'movable contact of re-` lay 10, conductors 63, 91,- 110, movable contact 111, conductor 112, winding of relay 13, conductor 113,;winding of relay 23/'to` battery and ground. The closing of this circuitwill energize relay 13 which will pull up its'niovable contacts and become locked up oventhe closing of the following circuit: From ground and battery, winding of relay 23, conductor113, winding of relay 13, movable contact 120, conductors 121 and 69 to movablecontact 70 of relay 1151.0' ground. The actuation'of relay 13 also servesvto open the short-circuit around the resistance thereby increasing the amount of resistance` l in the 'circuit-of the windingof the volt# metervrelaybl 'I- the, addition of resistance in the voltage of source' 2, the voltmeter relay needle will return to neutralposition.

tact 125,. conductor 126,'windin0 of relay 14,'

conductor 128, winding of relay 2-1 to batvtery and ground. The operation of relay 23, 'by pulling up its movable Contact 12T,

ofitheneedle l from conta-cth..

' 45- tioii, J relays; 21 toy -2 BEST AVNLABLE COPE 'removes the control of the locking' circuit of relays 12 and 22 from under the control of the movable contact 7G by locking these re` lays instead over the followingr circuit: 5 Ground and battery, winding of relay 22, conductor 94, relay Winding 12, movable contact 95, conductor 96,:'inovable Contact 127 to ground. Relay 12 therefore ceases to be under thet control of iiiorable Contact 1o '70 when relays 3 and 223 have been energized. I

i' lt is thus seen that by a step-by-step procedure adjustment is made oi' th l in series with the voltineter winding to 15. maintain a'constant currenta's the voltage ol the battery; increases. Additional steps ,may be supplied` but since the -opei":-tic-iis are merely a continuation oi those already described, it. is7not necessary todescrbe 20 them further.

such steps, but lany numbermay ,bei used, d Y

vin every easethe stepping operations will cease .when properciirren'tlvalue has been reached, as indicated by the falliiig-away The ebend-esserti@-deserbes tirprs- 1' creasing the amount of resistance in circuit with the roltmeter relay winding.

this reduction in resistance in the circuit of the ".oltinetenrelay winding is sui icieiit to counter-balance the' decrease of 70 voltage or' source 2, theneedle of the voltmeter relay will return to neutral position and no further operation of the sei-ies of or" relay 22, conductor 9st, Winding of relay 1 2, movable Contact 95, conductor 96, mov- 35 able Contact 127 to'grouiid, thereby causing the loci'iiigi circuit for these Arelays=to be Itracedinsteadffrom conductor r96 to conductor 69,2and movable contact 70 to ground.

AL .reyersel OfQ-the .prcQsSS-zwill; @esula Mlle -irelteseisheeld' fallf- 1.11? velue-z. tlf, 'eiti the 37 rha .beedincluded in l i;cuit, resistances lieg decrease, in. voltage :The-,manner in which .the A system f operates fier.. .decrease in voltage my Ibeiexplanefl. es follows Suppose, A. for example, that Y, the I voltage of source 2 has'increasedkto-suchja' 14v to. fneutral fpostionf Under. i this; assumpi inclusive would g also have been energized so that rthej'jmoyable Contact. fof-relay 10 -is -noW j'connected' to, the

voltmeter'needle Wouldzbe deflectedtoftlic left. and-make contact witli-c'ontacti'tliereby l 60 short-circuitingi 'relay 115. T he f armature :of tliis relay now falls away4 thereby.openingr the locking circuit lfor relays 13 and 23 and -v deenergiziiigv these '-relays.' The dcener- @ization orelay 13' causes movable'contacts .f L i b". o'tos short-(armutl resistenze oo .thereby de .fact that the former group v.of these relays :This change: o'fthc locking-` circuits-places 95 relays" 12-2 and T22 'underftlie coiltrol-Jof movable contact TQ Ot'relay: 115.215.' "fl Y "Hvtliedecrease in -yoltage' of source 2 has :not been"cminter-balancedjby theunl'ccl'ring lofi relayzl and thewsubtriictionbrom the 95 1l'oltiiiete'r' relay Icircu'rt' of "the resistance 33, theneedle' of the' Avoltmeter relay-' jvill remain deflected to the left, "and-1 the: -inovable y'-coi'iatact 7 ofrelay '11b-.Will then Ybreakthe lockn ling circuit just described for relays 12'zind' 1;0

22 'thereby""deenergizing these two relays.

fTliei deenergization of relay -12will allow movablecontact 52 to fall back sofasv to shortLcircuit 'resistance 32 thereby decreasing the' resistancefin ythe voltmeter relaycircuitx 105 rThe eiiect of" furtherl decrease in the lvoltage'of' source 2' in releasing 'ur'ther relays in the'train is-ob'vicusythis release continiin.' until ,bale-nce: of' the-' voltmeterhas been 'atta-ine'dianclfat'fany stage thefoperation 01:"110 Lthe1 relays may-v proceed in either' direct-ion,

ordecreas'ein"fvo ltage or" 'source 2f In 'addition 'toA maintaining constant the current Howing 'through the voltmeter relay' 115 3, other circuits may be regulated. -.For example, there 'are shown movable armatures 71, 97, 73, 129, 137 ,o 103 and 75 associated respectively With the relays liuto 17, and it is apparent tliat:'tliese.contacts may be used 120 to control rsistances in other circuits in a mannersimil r to the control exercisedvover the resistances-l` to 37, or in other vmanners as may be desired. In the description thus far, no mention has 12 been made ot the resistance 18 inserted in ser'es with the battery 2 aiid in such a `position as to carry the current supplied to the relays`11 to 17 and 21-to 27. ln view of the depending on Whether there' -is anincrease FEST AVAlL/BL CGP act comparatively quickly andthe latter group are slow-acting relays, it is apparent that the current which is supplied to these relays must lie Within certain limits, other- 5 Wise the time relations in the matter of operation Will be aliected. Cn the other hand, as the voltage of the battery 2 rises or falls, there would, in general, be a corresponding change in the current supplied to these relays. I propose, therefore, to insert the resistance 18, adjusting this resistance to such a valuethat it Will absorb the increase in voltage of the battery 2, leaving a constant .voltage impressed acrossv or a constant 7 current flowing through the relays... In order to do this, I take advantage ot the fact that, as the voltage of thebattery 2 rises, the resistance of the relay circuit which it suppliesbecomes less because of the addition of relays in parallel to those alreadyA in operation. The variation in voltage may be combined With the variation in the resistance of the relays to maintain a constant current This may be better explained by 5f reference to Fig. 2 in which there is shown 4abattery B in series With agresistance A and a plurality-i`v circuits C. Thefvoltage from tliebattery B,- Which is impressed Von the` circuit, is made variable, and after each certain Y 30 incrementin this voltage a changefisi promade variable by 'a movable bar D, so related 35.. .to-the otherelements'of the circuitth'at as .it Y slides to the right it increases lthe voltage of the battery B by certain increments E and .increases the -number oli the elements C, lWhich are arranged Ain parallel, each increase of voltageE-resulting inani addition of one element C. Ifthisqbarfoi" the moment be consideredy as Inovedto-,the -lett to such,a position that but `one element C of resistance R- is inserted, there, willbe a certain current a resistance'A, Which, included in series in the circuit will maintain the'currentfconstant as the bar'vD slides. If butone 'element C is included in theqcircuit and the voltage and the condition is that the current flowing through each element C shall be equal to the ti'mfth t th Vl h ll duced inthe resistance of,the'c1rc,u1t byV the' a nmg e Curran mug l eac e ement nintroductionof: one otithe elements,l C. -fIn this case-I have shown the-voltageV as being- V flow, andthe problem is to findayalue of,

r i l i 'i After n increments of voltage, there WlllY ldescribed in connection With Fig. l.

That is claimed is:-

l. In a circuit containing a variable source of E. M. F meansV for introducing in said circuit a' plurality of elements in accordance With the variations ofthe E. M. F. and means for maintaining the current through each element independent `of thevariation in the E. M. F.

2. In a circuit containing a variable source"- of E. M.F., means forV intrducinga lpluvvrality of-elements into'the' ,circuit in Aparallel with each other in accordance.'With'tlieyariation? vof the E'. MI F-. and .means fork mainindependentof the variationin theE."M.- F. f In fa circuit containing a` variableso'urce ofV EE 'M. F., means for introducing a plurality of elements in parallel with" each othery and' in accordance with the variations of the E. M-. F. and a resistance in series Withl this source lfor ymaintaining Athe current through each' element" independent' of the variations in the E. M JF." "V1 f 4. 'In'- a circuit 'containing a." variable source 1105 of E.V MJF., means'for introducing' inj'said circuit a plurality of elementsin'accordance *with the'` variations of the 3M: F. and

means for maintaining the current ythrough each element independent of-the-*variations in the'E. M. 'i'

' 5. In-a circuit containing a variable source of EIM. IF;, means for 'introducing'a plu'- rality of elements into the jcircuit inl parallel Witheach-,other and in accordance Withy the 215 variation ofy the E; -M 1- F. "andi means for `maintaining the current-fr5through-- each f element independent orthe variation infnthe 6. In a; circuit containing aV variable source-12? of E. F., Vmeansfl'r' introducinga plurality of elements into the circuitinparallel Withieach otherand in accordance With'the variationot the E? M.SF. and Lmeans for maintaining the current'fthrough each ele'- ment independent' ofl the variation in the 7. In a circuit containing a variable source of E. M. F. of normal value E, means for introducing in said circuit a plurality of elements of resistance R, one element being introduced with each increment of E. M. F. e and a resistance in series with the source and having a value of eR E-e S. In combination, a circuit comprising a source of electromotive force and a plurality of steps of resistance in series, and means to cut said resistance steps in or out in correspondence with variations of said source of electromotive force, said means comprising relays, each controlling a step of said resistance and adapted to be connected successively in multiple with said source according to the variations thereof and a single resistance also in series with said source and with said relays in multiple tnereto, said last mentioned resistance having such value as to keep the voltage drop constant through the said relays according as any or all of them are energized.

9. In combination, a circuit comprising a plurality of steps of resistance in series, a

source of electromotive force also in series and means to cut said steps of resistance in or out to correspond With variation of said source, said means comprising a plurality of relays in multiple on said source of electromotive force controlling respective resistance steps, and means to keep the Voltage constant through the relays according as any or all of them are energized.

l0. In combination, a source of electrol motive force of variable magnitude, a plurality of translating devices, means to connect any or all of them in multiple to said source according to the magnitude thereof and a resistance in series With said source to which said translating devices are also connected in multiple, said resistance having such value as to keep the voltage drop constant through the translating devices according as any or al1 of them are operatively connected in circuit with said source.

In testimony whereof, I have signed m name to this specification this 18th day of August 1922.

SAMUEL P. SHACKLETON 

